Live from the Caribbean Princess: Panama Canal - Apr 26 to May 14 - SF to FTL

[Ken the cruiser]

Went to another one of Fred Cink’s Astronomy lectures, Cruising with Comets and Meteors. And as always, he had some great pictures along with some great knowledge to share. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Than afterwards we did a few laps around the ship’s promenade and saw some Brown Boobies enjoying the updraft in front of the ship!

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Denali2003 said:

@KenTheCruiser You mentioned that you go to the dining room when they open for dinner.  Do you know what the "crowd" is like around 7:30pm?  We would also like a table for 2 away from other passengers (you mentioned asking for an empty table next to you).  We will be on the May 14th sailing and it is 90% capacity.

We are in CC dining in the Coral dining room. We were initially sitting along the wall at a 2-top where the other 2-tops nearest to us were either also along the wall or kiddy-corner to our table. However, we have now found a more isolated 4-top, but always initially set for 2, in a more remote, undesired area. 
 

Are you in CC or regular dining? If in regular MDR dining, maybe someone else can shed some light as to which MDR would be better to dine in at 7:30 and how best to reserve your table at that hour. For us, we’re getting ready to watch the 7:30 show at that time.

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, Denali2003 said:

 

KEN:  WOW, you have a lot of cruising days.  Have you done world cruises?

LOL!! We started cruising in 2012 with a 7 day Caribbean cruise on the HAL Ryndam. One of the funny memories I remember about that cruise was the HAL band played music while sitting on a set of bleachers on the back side of the stage during performances. We then booked a HAL Alaska cruise, but then switched it to a 7 day Alaska cruise with Celebrity. Then the addiction started to slowly take hold. 😂

 

We now sail between 80-100+ days a year, a perk from being mostly retired and not having any more cats at home. When we started cruising, we had 4.

 

We’ve never done a world cruise, but we have grown to enjoy 3-5 week cruises. It used to be we liked more port stops than sea days. Now we like more sea days than port days! Go figure!! Our favorite cruises so far have been to Antarctica (HAL), circumnavigating Australia (HAL), Galapagos (Celebrity), SE Asia (Crystal), Norwegian Fjords (HAL), Panama Canal and Easter Island (Princess), UK circumnavigation (Princess), the Med (Oceania), Transatlantic (Celebrity) and of course Alaska 3 times (HAL, Celebrity and Disney).

 

But as they say, the best has yet to come. So far we have some pretty cool cruises booked back to Antarctica (Princess) and the Galapagos (Celebrity) as well as a couple of Med/Africa cruises (NCL and Seabourn) and a Princess cruise to NE/Canada.
 

As you can tell our cruising addiction is now back into full swing! 😂

 

But I have to say one of the few bright spots for me when it comes to getting periodic cruising “fixes” over the past 2+ years was being able to keep tabs on it though Cruise Critic. Thanks Cruise Critic!!! 😁

Edited May 5, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Went to an afternoon Spices lecture by Kerry in the Explorers Lounge. It was very interesting and I highly recommend going to it if you’re interested in where they come from, who fought over the control of them, and how they were prepared for market. But not a lot of cool pictures to post, so this is the only one I kept. 😁

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[pspman92]

amazing reviews!! keep going 🙂

[Ken the cruiser]

This evening’s show in the main theater was a Musical Showtime starring Duncan Tuck. 
 

 

But once again the show of the evening IMHO was the Rock The Room Game Show in the Explorers Lounge by the assistant CDs!!!! 😂

 

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 11, Friday, May 6, Princess Patter, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, and are booked on a Princess excursion to go see some wildlife, besides the frigate birds that came to greet us this morning. Yay!!

 

 

[marden1970]

Puntarenas is the port I'm most looking foward to on our cruise later this year,  It was cancelled last time because of weather.  I really want to see the sloths!

[KLM3164]

@Ken the cruiserEnjoy your day in Costa Rica. It’s a beautiful country and one of my favorite places to vacation by land and sea. I hope you’ll post photos later of the wildlife you see today.

@marden1970You will love the sloths on the shore excursions in Costa Rica. Here are a couple photos from our port stop there in 2019. 

Edited May 6, 2022 by KLM3164

[Ken the cruiser]

Just got back from our boat ride, drive in the country and Macaw Sanctuary. The boat ride was nice, but not a lot of wildlife. But they do have one of the largest mangroves in the world!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PacnGoNow]

Have they taken away the band setup in the piazza?  It was taking up one of the 2 circular sitting areas all the time.  Even though the loud horns only played periodically.  Many complaints about how loud it was and took away seating in the IC area.  They used to set up by the piano. 

[Ken the cruiser]

36 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just got back from our boat ride, drive in the country and Macaw Sanctuary. The boat ride was nice, but not a lot of wildlife. But they do have one of the largest mangroves in the world!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 2 as we’re having internet issues. Here are the remaining few pictures from the boat ride. 
 

 

 

 

But then came our drive in the country and when we got to the Macaw Sanctuary, everyone was reminded why we all picked this excursion!! 😁

 

 

 

Ants carrying their load back to the underground nest. 

 

 

 

 

 

This caterpillar had eyes on both ends!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big lizard hanging out in the brush

 

 

 

Orphan 3 month old 2 toed sloth taking a siesta 

Adult 2 toed sloth feeding on some tasty leaves!

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Have they taken away the band setup in the piazza?  It was taking up one of the 2 circular sitting areas all the time.  Even though the loud horns only played periodically.  Many complaints about how loud it was and took away seating in the IC area.  They used to set up by the piano. 

It doesn’t look like it. I just took this picture just before 5 pm. 

 

[PacnGoNow]

29 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

It doesn’t look like it. I just took this picture just before 5 pm. 

 

Thanks!  They said when it’s full they would put seats back in there.  We’ll see.

[Ken the cruiser]

This post is for those who are also booked on the next leg. Apparently RCI and Celebrity are in the active process of eliminating their B2B C19 testing requirements on select ships, the Edge and Silhouette to name a few.  In addition, rumor has it there have been a few Carnival affiliated ships, the Discovery Princess being one, that recently may not have performed antigen tests on their B2B passengers on one of their cruises.

 

I would definitely be interested to hear once you’ve received your letter letting you know if the CB is going to require you to have (or not have) an antigen test prior to continuing on to the next leg. I really don’t want to start a discussion here about the subject, as there is a separate one running now. But I would definitely be interested to know what Princess plans on doing for their CB B2B passengers on this cruise.

Edited May 7, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Have any of you ever eaten at either of these buffet-style restaurants up on the Lido deck on the CB? We asked a crew member and she said Planks BBQ has been closed since before the pandemic and no one was sure when Steamers Seafood was last open. 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Saturday, May 7, Day 12, sea day

 

 

 

[PacnGoNow]

23 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Have any of you ever eaten at either of these buffet-style restaurants up on the Lido deck on the CB? We asked a crew member and she said Planks BBQ has been closed since before the pandemic and no one was sure when Steamers Seafood was last open. 

 

We did on the Regal pre covid and liked Planks.  It’s not buffet, as they do serve you.  I was told on the CB, that once tne ships are full they will reopen.  They also have supply issues and crew shortages, so who knows?

They were both open in 2019 on the Regal.

 

Edited May 7, 2022 by PacnGoNow

[satxdiver]

42 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Have any of you ever eaten at either of these buffet-style restaurants up on the Lido deck on the CB? We asked a crew member and she said Planks BBQ has been closed since before the pandemic and no one was sure when Steamers Seafood was last open

We ate in Planks/Steamers the last time we were on the CB which was before the pandemic.  It was just OK and we did not feel it warranted a return trip.  Nice part was that each of us could order what we liked - me seafood and DW BBQ.  We are from a BBQ haven and it is hard for anyone to measure up.  Being near the Gulf we get some really good seafood as well.  We will be on the CB later this year for two cruises  and again next year so we may try it again if they open it and it is worth another try.  

 

[PacnGoNow]

12 minutes ago, satxdiver said:

We ate in Planks/Steamers the last time we were on the CB which was before the pandemic.  It was just OK and we did not feel it warranted a return trip.  Nice part was that each of us could order what we liked - me seafood and DW BBQ.  We are from a BBQ haven and it is hard for anyone to measure up.  Being near the Gulf we get some really good seafood as well.  We will be on the CB later this year for two cruises  and again next year so we may try it again if they open it and it is worth another try.  

 

We felt it broke up the boredom of repeated menus on b2b cruises. Something different.  Never was crowded though. 

[NoWhiners]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Have any of you ever eaten at either of these buffet-style restaurants up on the Lido deck on the CB? We asked a crew member and she said Planks BBQ has been closed since before the pandemic and no one was sure when Steamers Seafood was last open. 

 

 

 

 

We've done both, pre-covid. We liked steamers more. Both gave you a ton of food. At Steamers, you could add on a lobster tail. DH did that but wasn't charged the extra, maybe $5??

 

Looks like you're on a great cruise. Enjoy it.

[Ken the cruiser]

The evening show in the theater was an opera soprano singer, Caroline Miller. 
 

 

Afterwards the game show in the Explorers Lounge was Musical Bingo, Part 2.

[caribill]

On 5/5/2022 at 10:50 AM, jagoffee said:

The short answer is your cabin steward gets the $1.75 for a total of $4.00 for you.  Most likely, they do not get the gratuity based on hours worked but by person. 

 

 

 

Now that gratuities are shared across the entire fleet, not just on the ship you cruise on, I have no idea how much of what each person's "auto-tip" (paid or as part of the Plus package) actually gets into the pocket of anyone that actually provided service to you

[Ken the cruiser]

We stopped by Vines last night after dinner just to see if they offered Moscato by the glass, and you all were right! They do!! So my DW has surmised that it just takes too much time for our assistant waiter to keep going down to Vines to get me 2-3 glasses during dinner when it’s not on the MDR wine list That wine is probably stored in a more localized area to the Coral MDR where we dine. So after I finish off my 5 bottles I have put on reserve (with extra OBC we have), we’ll start stopping by Vines before coming to dinner to pick up a couple of “free” glasses. 
 

Thanks everyone for telling us about the true value of Vines! 😁